Three days after picking up a strained calf in training, Eintracht Frankfurt midfielder Ricardo Clark has shown signs of a quicker return to full practice than originally expected.

The former Houston Dynamo star joined Frankfurt as a free transfer signing in late-January, and had been working back to game fitness with the team after the long layoff following the end of the MLS season.

A debut in the team's forthcoming trip on Sunday evening to Dortmund looked likely until plans were derailed by Tuesday's injury, with an originally estimated outage of three to four weeks.

Team officials are hopeful, however, of a quicker return to the fold for their new acquisition.

"He might be able to return in a shorter time than we originally thought," Eintracht Frankfurt spokesman Carsten Knoop told YA.

"He is already jogging around the training field, so I think maybe next week he can return to practicing with the team," Knoop continues, adding "We will have to take another look next week."

Frankfurt currently sits seventh place in the standings, trailing sixth-place Werder Bremen only by goal differential. They hit the road to face top-four team Borussia Dortmund on Sunday before returning home to square off with relegation-threatened Freiburg the following weekend.